INDIGENOUS PERUVIANS WIN APPEAL IN FEDERAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWSUIT AGAINST OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM FOR CONTAMINATING AMAZON RAINFOREST, POISONING COMMUNITIES

LAWSUIT TO PROCEED IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT

Los Angeles, California – Indigenous plaintiffs from the Peruvian Amazon won their appeal today in the landmark human rights and environmental contamination lawsuit against U.S. oil giant Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the case should be heard in Los Angeles, Oxy’s hometown. A district court judge had previously ruled that the case should be litigated in Peru, but the Ninth Circuit disagreed, allowing the plaintiffs to proceed in federal court.

The lawsuit accuses Oxy of causing severe injuries by knowingly dumping a daily average of 850,000 barrels of toxic wastewater into the tropical rainforest inhabited by the indigenous Achuar people of northern Peru over a 30-year period, as well as inducing acid rain from gas flaring, and improperly storing waste in unlined pits. The plaintiffs allege that these outdated practices caused widespread lead and cadmium poisoning, among other serious health impacts.

“This is a major victory for the rights of indigenous peoples,” said Marco Simons, Legal Director of EarthRights International (ERI), who argued the appeal before the Ninth Circuit. “Oxy will now face justice in the U.S. federal courts, rather than in a Peruvian legal system that has never compensated indigenous groups for environmental contamination.” The Ninth Circuit’s opinion indicates that it was not convinced of “the ability of the Peruvian courts to satisfactorily handle this case,” citing corruption and “disorder in the Peruvian judiciary.”

Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch, added, “The Achuar people continue to suffer the devastating health impacts caused by Oxy’s damaging practices, which were illegal in the U.S. at the time. This ruling means that the Achuar will finally get their day in U.S. court and signals the end of the era when companies could destroy indigenous communities and their environment with impunity.” Amazon Watch has advocated for the Achuar people for many years, and joined the case as a plaintiff to challenge Oxy’s allegedly fraudulent denials of responsibility for the pollution.

The Achuar case, Maynas Carijano v. Occidental Petroleum, No. 08-56187 (9th Cir.), was filed in May 2007 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In April 2008, the district court ruled that the case should be heard in Peru under the legal doctrine of forum non conveniens. The plaintiffs and their counsel, including Washington, DC-based ERI, the Venice, CA firm Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris Hoffman & Harrison LLP, and San Francisco lawyer Natalie Bridgeman, appealed that ruling. The Ninth Circuit’s opinion was issued by Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, joined by Judge Mary M. Schroeder; Judge Pamela Ann Rymer agreed with part of the opinion and issued a partial dissent.

According to A Legacy of Harm, a 2007 report issued by ERI, Amazon Watch, and the Peruvian legal non-profit Racimos de Ungurahui, Oxy’s operations discharged billions of barrels of untreated wastewater into local streams, caused numerous spills and resulted in many unremediated toxic waste sites in Achuar territory, with severe health and livelihood consequences for the Achuar.

The full report and the Ninth Circuit’s opinion are available at www.earthrights.org.

EarthRights International (ERI) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment. Focusing on earth rights, we work at the intersection of human rights and the environment. We specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training for grassroots and community leaders, and advocacy campaigns that seek to end earth rights abuses and promote and protect earth rights. To learn more, including viewing a copy of A Legacy of Harm, please visit: http://www.earthrights.org/.

Amazon Watch is an environmental and human rights organization working to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon’s ecological systems. To learn more please visit: http://www.amazonwatch.org/.

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Linkwood roots go back to early 2000’s in Edinburgh UK when the underground dance music scene there was popping off. Eventually Nick Moore and his partner Lindsey Todd (House of Traps) put out the first Firecracker EP on their Firecracker label in 2004 featuring their now sought out masterpiece “Miles Away.”

Since then Moore and Todd have collaborated on four more praised Firecracker releases as well as many more individual projects.  Moore had a breakthrough year in 2009 after releasing System on the soulful Prime Numbers label. This is the release that has taken his sound on tour around the world.  I describe the Linkwood sound as weathered acid washed beaten down house spaceship disco reprise.  Does that do it justice? Have a listen:

If that is not enough, then bug out to one of his latest mixes:

Latest tracks by Linkwood

So, Linkwood will be performing this Friday 23rd at one of the world’s most unique and intimate party spots located around the outskirts of San Francisco, very limited capacity and by the way, it probably has the best custom sound available in the Western Hemisphere…. Not kidding. The very secret and special locale will be disclosed the day of the event. Seeing that this is Linkwood’s only West Coast appearance I would not miss this if I were you. Alongside this house-disco phenomenon and appearing for the first time in the secret locale will be Jeno, one of the pioneers of the West Coast’s party scene, a living legend; also Sammy D of Kontrol who killed at his closeout set for the Sunset Campout, Conor SF, a local rising disco star and the man behind No Way Back, and Briski, my good friend who I love and respect, plus he dons a record bag full of slick cuts and knows how to mix them.

Don’t miss this one kids.

rebody sf, Linkwood, Jeno, Sammy D, ConorSF, Briski

Pre-sale tickets start at $15 and are available via Pay Pal, rebodysf@gmail.com, or find the pay pal link at http://www.rebodysf.com/

See you there dance suckas.

Do you hate bike thiefs or any other type of criminals for that matter?  This video might make you feel better, maybe.  In this video some citizens had enough with a local bike thief and they finally decided to take matters into their own hands.  They set up an ambush scene with a hidden camera and a bait bike to catch him in the act. After a couple of nights he gets caught ‘redhanded’ stealing the bait bike then gets blasted by dozens of paintballs.  He attempts to retaliate with a knife but that only makes it worse because the vigilantes had bear spray waiting for him.  Ever been hit by a paintball?? “Ouch” doesn’t do justice to the pain produced by one hit.  Yes, there is a possibility that this video is fake but after watching it closely a few times I am pretty sure it’s real.  Living in San Francisco I have gotten my bike seat stolen two times, my front wheel taken once and my car window busted twice only to take some old CD’s.  Needless to say I have experienced much anger at this situation and have actually thought about doing this same thing but never had the balls or motivation to actually do it.

This video is a first of a kind on even on You Tube.  Controversial?  Does the thief deserve this?  He deserves something that is for sure.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat excited by the vigilantes who decided to take matters into their own hands.   The thief, well, I am sure he spent a week in bed watching his bruises go down.  I hope he never ever steals another bike again.  Thiefs worldwide beware.  This type of activity might become contagious.

Calling all true underground dance music connoisseurs of San Francisco.  In case you missed the last one, the one and only Mr. Dan Bell aka DBX will be playing another 9 hour set this Saturday night at the most precious of all underground locations in North America, this is a fairly common opinion shared by those who have experienced it.

Who? What? Dan Bell is an underground dance music pioneer from Detroit.  Many will argue that he invented the minimal techno sound, he definitely owns rights to the original classics like Losing Control.  Check out his Discogs page. Dan inspired an entire generation of producers to bump those beeps and blips into a bliss of smooth rhythm, very basic, very primal, very deep, sexy. These days Dan Bell usually only plays for big crowds at festivals or at some of the world’s largest clubs like Tresor, Panorama Bar, etc.  On this very special night in San Francisco however Dan will deliver another exclusive 9 hour performance for 150 people, the max capacity of the venue.  Why are we so lucky?

Dan Bell loves playing at this special underground venue.  Here is an excerpt from the official invite by our great host Mr. G. Bird who describes it oh so passionately:

In late 2008, after playing for [KONTROL] four times between 2005 and 2007, Dan Bell approached me and told me he had an idea for a long-format special event in which he was the only DJ all night. Knowing this would truly be one for the history books, we secured SF’s most amazing intimate private location, and it was on. After promising an 8 hour set in which he was the “opener, headliner, and closer”, Dan delivered what was, without a doubt, one of the most memorable nights of music I have ever been witness to in well over a decade of steady partying. Flawless long mixes, incredible unheard gems both old and new, and a deep, sophisticated vibe that has rarely (if ever) since been replicated. At 7am, when he was scheduled to end, Dan asked if he could play one more hour, as he still had some great music he’d like to get to before calling it a day. He did. And many of us stayed to the very end. And through nearly 9 hours of mixing, he never lost his focus, never even stopped to use the bathroom! To this day, when people ask me about my favorite parties ever, this one immediately jumps to mind, and I suspect I’m far from alone in feeling this way.

We will leave the name of this underground locale out of this post to protect the integrity of the spot.  However it is ‘theatre in the round’ presentation,  the artist performs in the middle, and 150 lucky people are engulfed by the perfectly tuned state of the art 360 degree 16.1 dolby surround sound system.  OH YEAH BABY!  This place is a sound engineer’s wet dream and it requires going through some dirt roads to find it. (Awesome! anyone been to underground Detroit parties in the early 90’s? It’s a lot like that:-)  Again, I’d like to give a special thanks to our host G. Bird for putting together this event on for the second time.

Besides having have had Dan Bell play my college house party for 30 of us (thank you Lucas Ortega for hooking that up), this event is as intimate as it is ever going to get to the decadent sounds of Dan Bell over a high quality system in the best city in the world, San Francisco.

Want to know how to make it to this party?  First you must be on Facebook, here is the link the invite:

Photos by Gilbert Rizzo

Dont Front! Nabir used this car the same way Hans Solo used the Millenium Falcon – he used a small screwdriver to get that tape player working and of course had a customized horn button – true Egyptian stylee.

Actually one of my main goals in Cairo was to get this picture of a hand drawn Michelin man which I kept laughing at no matter how many times I saw it.  8 years later it was still there. I was never able to get a picture before because the owner always looked so angry.  Lo and behold after taking this picture, the guy below got mad and asked for money for taking the pictrure.. Yeah right bro, no way.  Thanks to Nabir he got set straight:

Forget Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum and all that tourist trap stuff, I like Koshary, a simple and strange but addictive and cheap local dish.  I wanted to eat Egypt’s national dish from the minute I saw Cairo from the plane, Koshary!   Why do I call it strange? because the ingredient combination makes no sense to me and have never figured out how Egypt’s historical background even came to have this odd combination of ingredients in is national dish.   The name is actually and acronym K.O.S.H.A.R.Y. but excuse my bad job reporting here because I can not remember which letter stands for which ingredient.  They are : rice, brown lentils, macaroni or spaghetti noodles,  chickpeas, spicy tomato sauce (the secret ingredient in my opinon), carmalized onions, and garlic-vinegar or and lime dressing.

Accoring to Nabir, up until the 80’s Mr. Abou Tarek sold Koushary from a push cart in the heart of Cairo streets as an affordable food alternative for low income Muslims who could not afford meat.  His formula apparently became the favored choice of the people.  Eventually Mr. Tarek revolutionized Koushary when he opened up his restaurant at 16 Shampilion street in Cairo.

In Islamic fashion of having big posters of political leaders and family members, Mr Abou Tarek plasters huge poster of his smiling mug shot inside all the five floors of his famed restaurant:

ahh, that Abou Tarek, he just loves himself. Loving yourself is a good thing.  I love myself too. Its time to print out a huge picture of myself and put it in my living room, eh, might as well put it in every room in my house.

Regardless of the gaudy interior and Mr Abou’s ego his Koshary recipe is definitely regarded as the best in Egypt.  I absolutely love it and had to go get some.  It could be considered an acquired taste at first, but if you want to travel cheap in Egypt, eventually you will LOVE Koushary.  It is less than a dollar for a big portion so go figure.  My mouth watered for it as soon as I got into Egypt.. Strange huh?

This how it it served, along with fresh lemon juice and vinegar condiments which are not seen in this picture.

everyone has their own way of blending the ingredients but I always mixed it up well and added a lot of lemon, my Peruvian side you know.

While you wolf down that Koushary, you can enjoy the gaudy interior with fountains of course.  This is considered one of the best places for Koshary in Cairo, by no means should you expect to find fountains in other Cairo restaurants.  Enjoy the flash intro to the Abou Tarek Restaurant website, personally I get a kick out of it.

Since Muslims are not supposed to drink alcohol, shisha, teas, and tabla (Backgammon) are hands down the most popular activities in Egypt and pretty much all over the Muslim world.  In the heart of Cairo you see these Shisha places in almost every corner and they are always full of men, never women.  In fact, you don’t see too many women period, just dudes….dudes and more dudes…. ugh… but when in Cairo enjoy some shisha and tabla and tea.

Nabir and I just kept it very local and played backgammon, smoked apple flavored shisha, and drank tea.

I felt lucky enough to see this well known local 80+ year old eccentric Christian-Egyptian lady who dyes her hair yellow and wears interesting clothes.  She actually belongs in San Francisco.  Nabir could not remember her name.

Finally, TRAFFIC in Cairo, my favorite amusement.  Conventional talkers and guidebooks will probably tell you its THE WORST.  I disagree, it’s the best.  First of all, Egyptians have a slick way of communicating with light taps of the horn.  It does not come off angry, its more like,”hey I’m right here, don’t hit me.”  They use the horn so much that most drivers have custom horn buttons that are usually all worn out from frequent use. Secondly, pedestrians crossing streets.  Drivers don’t usually stop and let you cross. It is more like, you and some other pedestrians build some critical mass and then start walking across the street all at once.  It was scary the first time I did it, but after a while it became fun.  Believe me you won’t get hit.  Finally, in Cairo most drivers do not use headlights.  They just don’t see the point. Many people put colors on their headlights for decoration.  It looks cool at night.   Here is a video I edited for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy:

]]> http://www.miguel23.com/blog/koshary-shisha-tabla-cairo-traffic/feed/ 2 http://www.miguel23.com/blog/macchu-pisco-combier-launch-party-in-san-francisco-111909/ http://www.miguel23.com/blog/macchu-pisco-combier-launch-party-in-san-francisco-111909/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:42:06 +0000 solprovider http://www.miguel23.com/blog/?p=280

Thursday November 19th at 9pm, Indy Spirits Expo Afterparty

Macchu Pisco and Combier Present

‘NOW AVAILABLE’ IN CALIFORNIA PARTY

1 FREE Macchu Pisco Daisy cocktail, Come celebrate

$5 Pisco and Combier cocktails

Top Shelf Music provided by Romanowski

@ 83 Proof, 83 First Street (between Market and Mission)

NO COVER

Special thanks to our new distributor in California, Wine Warehouse.

follow @piscosf on twitter for more news and info

The Facebook Invite: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=176404807157&ref=ts

Join the Macchu Pisco Facebook Group for more goodies: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18760511406&ref=ts

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As best described in bullet points by Daniel Gritzer in his Time Out New York magazine article. “Pisco: Getting to Know Peru’s Grape Brandy”:

• Pisco comes in three main categories: puro (pure), acholado (blended) and mosto verde (green must).
• Puro piscos are made from one type of grape, and are themselves divided into aromatic and nonaromatic categories, depending on the varietal used.
• Acholados are blends of the distillates of various grapes, such as the delicate and floral La Diablada, produced by the Asher sisters.
• Mosto verde is distilled after it is only halfway fermented, resulting in a much diminished yield. It is best sipped alone.
• The most traditional grape for pisco is called quebranta, meaning “broken.” It was brought by Spanish explorers to South America from the Canary Islands, and was essentially “broken in” to survive the Peruvian climate, hence the name. Macchu Pisco is 100 percent quebranta, and it makes a less fruity and floral spirit. Other pisco grapes can be much more aromatic.
• Pisco is different from Italian grappa in that grappa is distilled from pomace (the solid remnants like skin and seed after wine has been pressed), while pisco is distilled from freshly fermented grape juice with no associated wine production.”

I found this item in the middle of nowhere during a long bus trip stop for food.  I know there is history with marijuana and the old Turkish culture but how did it end up in the form of marijuana cow bank with some big lips and a blunt is a mystery.  Hilarious nonetheless.

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This girl toy was spotted at another bus stop.  Turkey not only strives to be part of the EU but apparently they seek to inculcate the idea into their children to someday own their own “Modern Sweet Home.”  It is hard to read in this picture because of the web resolutionbut the yellow copy at the top of the box says: “Simulating the True Styles and Making Carefully.”

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This is the sign in the metro to give up your seats to those who need it.  Since I am a huge fan of foreign sign imagery I could not get over the depiction of what must be considered the classic old Turkish man, see bottom right.  I want to make a t-shirt of this.

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I laugh now but maybe someday when I step out of the shower I will think “damn, I wish I had a pocket for my slippers conveniently placed on top of my steez on this towel.”

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This restaurant marketed their lamb menu by making this stuffed sheep look like its eating a plant.  There was another one on the opposite side of the entrance facing this one in order to welcome their guests in.  Charming.  I definitely noticed women and children enjoyed this so the manager of this restaurant must know what he is doing.

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All I have to say about this is…. “Otel, motel Holiday Innn, when that b*** starts f**** up, Ill just f*** her friend”    But for real, this in Turkish a hotel is spelled ”otel” and I simply could not resist singing that famous hip hop lyric every time I walked by an otel.

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Finally, did I or did I now get lucky with this great picture of this Turkish cat.  This is best cat picture I’ve ever snapped.  I call it Night Rider.  Look at those eyes.

Absolute Power

I was walking across the Galata bridge late at night in Istanbul when I ran into a very old Turkish man wearing this hat.  It was unreal that someone that old could be wearing such a cool hat. I don’t mean to say anything agist, but I was not in San Francisco you know, I am just saying.  I went up and talked to him, his name was Salman and he spoke no English, but he could tell I liked his hat and the guy was obviously pretty cool and very young at heart where it matters most.  I told him I was originally from Peru and he gave me a hug.  If you look real close you can tell it was hand made, probably by some  local Istanbul designer.  Salman let it go to  me for 15 TL, about 10 bucks.   The best $10 I have ever spent, it’s golden like a crown.   I officially own the coolest baseball hat in the world.  If anyone has any information about the hat designer, please comment.

color theory applied

Ghostly has categorized their album library by colors which correspond to different mood states in an effort to help you ‘discover’ new tracks and playlists according to how you feel.

I am so happy to see a cutting edge electronic music label elegantly implementing these concepts to further investigate the mind-body-technology relationship further, ultimately to put us in the mood we want to be in:-)

This cutting edge project was probably conceived in Ann Arbor Michigan, home to Ghostly. I would like to have been a fly on wall during the planning stage meetings.  I feel as if Ann Arbor has always been somewhat of a Silicone Valley for techno. It is so close to Detroit, how can it not be.  Those brainy students who like to party will rule the world someday…wait we already do.

The parameters are quite simple as you can see below.

Ghostly Discover iPhone App choose color mood

Choose your desired ‘hue,’ I was feelin’ yellow, then you choose your rhythm type fast/slow, organic/electronic  - pretty well thought out.  Click ‘ DISCOVER’ to get your results (click to link to the song to preview):

I do think this result matched the mood, and the other songs that followed in the suggested playlist also rocked.

The app has a monetization plan, everything is well though out. In the end this is a different experience towards finding and purchasing music. Put a boy tie on this, nice job.

You can choose to buy the track, rate it or get an artist bio.

In conclusion, this is a true holistic approach to music discovery.  If you love the Ghostly label I suggest you download this immediately.  Good job to the creative minds at Ghostly.  SV4 and the bunch.

Now go eat some cake.

This movie was directed by directed and writen by Claudia Llosa, who is also the niece of recognized Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa.  She beautifully portrays the story of Fausta, played by Magaly Solier, who suffers from ‘la teta asustada,’ a psychological condition suffered by children born during the terrorist years who lactated from the ’scared milk’ of the mothers who survived that era.  Fausta herself is an attractive but timid and paranoid character who constantly lives in fear of men due to graphic rape stories told by her late mother.  She goes as far as putting a potato in her vagina to prevent rape, but this causes more emotional and physical trauma as the plot develops.

YES, you read that last part, this movie has very strong plot elements.  In short, the story takes place in a poverty striken and post-terrorist province of Lima.  After Fausta’s mother passes away, besides the emotional pain, she struggles to save enough money for her mother burial which is expensive.  At the same time, her cousin is preparing for a lavish wedding which juxtaposes the irony of a poor province stuck in old ridiculous dowry habits.  Fausta is forced to take a job as a maid for a rich white woman, which portrays another characteristic of Peruvian diversity, culture and class division.

As a Peruvian who was raised in the United States, and also a lover of film, my opinion of this movie is high. The director’s cinematic elements are slow in rhythm but beautiful in imagery and full of feeling. I praise Magaly Solier for her acting as Fausta, she is able to make the directors vision come alive well.  I think she captures the idiosyncracies of that Peruvian province in a charming way.  Some have called this movie the Slumdog Millionaire of Peru because it of its portrayal of a poor peruvian province, but I disagree this plot is richer in feeling and compassion from a different place in the heart.  Its plot does not strive for towards the hopes of wealth and prosperity, it observes the resolution of a very complex psychological reality and experience of the protagonist.  This movie stands on its own and it brings Peruvian film quality to a whole new level.  I recommend La Teta Asustada to any true lover of cinema with feeling.

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Update 2/26/10

When I wrote this movie review last year I did not expect it to become the 1st Peruvian film nominated for an Oscar. I also never thought I WOULD BE GOING TO THE OFFICIAL NOMINATION PARTY IN LA TO POUR MACCHU PISCO COCKTAILS! I am actually most excited to meet MAGALY SOLIER. Viva PERU and drink some pisco, its actually good for you.

With only 30 days left until the deadline of a contest that Current TV was running called, Seeds of Tolerance, I embarked on this project. The prize was 100,000 dollars – I was in for the ride of my life.

I picked this topic because I myself am an immigrant to the good ole U.S.A. and I felt it was my duty to explore this topic closely. I am so happy that I did.

I quit my job (I got it back when I returned), borrowed the equipment, secured the funding, and flew off to New Orleans with only two contacts upon arrival, a friends friend who lent me his floor to sleep on and Christian Roselund who ran Indymedia in the area and whom I met through email correspondence.

Blood, Sweat and Tears is the best way that I can explain these 30 days. Sourcing, shooting, directing, and editing. I was a one man show. I went up to scared immigrant strangers on the street, this is how I met all the subjects in my movie. My time in New Orleans was very short so every minute on the field was worth gold. I met heroes and downtrodden people. Then entire experience felt somewhat apocalyptic. Certain people will always stick out in my mind.

9 hours of footage later, I had to teach myself how to edit video. This took about 2 hours thanks to my audio editing skills. I’m not kidding. I am a natural at this. I boiled all the content down to 11 minutes to meet the contest requirements. I can easily make a 40 minute movie with the footage.

I did not win the $100,000 but out of approximately 380 entries, 8 movies were picked, 6 finalists, and 2 for television. This movie was picked for television – I got paid. Not much money, but the reward today is bigger than anything I could have possibly imagined back then.

Tomorrow, I will be giving a speech after the screening of my movie at Unity High School in Oakland, California. This website has all the details: http://www.unityhigh.org/gulfcoasttrip08

The aim of the fundraiser is to send a group of students to New Orleans and make 2 documentaries about this topic. You are all of course welcome to help out.

This is a much deeper story because it involves everything from the Detroit techno music label Underground Resistance and an old school Dj friend from back in the Ann Arbor days. However, you will have to ask me in person about this if you really want to find out more.

Here is a link to the edited TV version

Credits and thank you’s:
Eddie & Johnny & Larry for letting me crash in your places, and Kieran Walsh for hooking that up.
Alex Outhred for funding
Gregory Kellet and Ian Kellet for the Camera and the tips – good juju!
Elsa Wenzel for support and research help
“CESAR” for putting up with me in his editing suite.
Christian Roselund, Ed Holub, Eva San Martin, Luz Molina, Jorge Lopez, Damion, Claire Didier, Lamar LeBlanc, Albert at Common Ground, and the immigrants themselves who put themselves at risk to help me make this film.

Thanks to Cornelius Harris for passing it on and thanks to Daniel Zarazua for inspiring the youth to take further action.

Thank you ALL!!!

Mig

“I have watched the movie Idiocracy 3 times in the past week with 3 different groups of people. The appeal of this movie is startling and surprisingly broad.”

I would give you the link to his blog but he almost tells the whole movie so trust me, I’m player helping. This is that blog if you really want to search for it.

It is a satire on corporate driven American culture that takes place in the year 2550. The human characters, whose IQ is a 10th of ours, have been “dummed-down” by the corporate/entertainment media. Director Mike Judge throws an anvil at our corporate hyped media culture and its sponsors with this flick. My first day after watching it, I noticed people on the street that reminded me of characters from Idiocracy, and that is a bad thing.

I was not the only one affected this way too. The same blogger from above put it this way:

“The next morning after watching this movie, I woke up and watched the Packer game, and realized how regardless of Idiocracy’s exagerrated ridiculousness, we may not be that far off from such a world if we’re not careful. Watching a football game is an endless string of sponsors (Coors Light NFL on Fox, sponsored by ______, ________, and the official sponsor of _______) and advertising plugs, of which I can’t even remember. There was an official beer of the NFL, an official car, everything! Somehow in real life, it wasn’t as funny.”

I read this article today about this year’s top interet searches and it made me think about it in a similar way. We live in ridiculous times ladies and gentlemen.

The peculiar thing about this movie is the way 20 Century Fox handled its release. You be the judge, watch the movie, its message is powerful in my opinion. I’d say Fox would have “reasons” to not want to support the release of this movie- by contract they were obligated to release it however.

Listen to this NPR piece on Idiocracy. Go rent it now, but don’t watch the trailer, it is a dumbed-down version of the movie.